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10 Easy Mandala Drawing Ideas (Includes Digital Art)

10 Easy Mandala Drawing Ideas (Includes Digital Art)  

A mandala is an ancient symbol used by many cultures as a meditation tool. It represents wholeness, unity, and balance. In this post, I’ll show you how to draw them using basic geometric shapes.

Drawing your own mandalas is a great way to unwind and concentrate on the inner self at any time of the day. Use this list of ten easy-to-draw mandalas to meditate or just relax. 

  1. Bullet Journal Mandala
  2. Rainbow Polka Dot Mandala
  3. Flower Mandala
  4. Sun mandala
  5. Christmas mandala drawing
  6. Nature Inspired
  7. Make it on Procreate
  8. Musical Influences
  9. Practice Sheets to Perfect Your Style
  10. Mickey Mouse Cartoon

There are a variety of different styles listed here. Some of them are also digital art drawing ideas that you can do on a computer or a graphic tablet. 

Discover the secrets behind creating beautiful mandalas. You’ll see that you don’t have to be artistic to create them.

Get inspired today!

mandala drawings on paper

Tools and Optional Supplies

Drawing Supplies

Here is a list of drawing supplies. The first set is for drawing in the traditional method on paper.

The last set is for digital drawing.

Digital Art Supplies

Inkscape software program

Computer 

Graphic tablet (optional)

Optional Supplies:

  • compass
  • protractor
  • watercolor paint and brushes
  • black pen or permanent marker

I get commissions for purchases made through some of the links in this post. There is no extra cost to you. See my full disclosure here.

How to Make a Simple Mandala – Step by Step 

  1. The first step to drawing a mandala is to lightly draw a set of 3 or 4 concentric circles in the center of your paper. The circles serve as a guideline between the shapes you will draw.
  1. Next, draw basic shapes like circles or squares within the first center circle
  1. In the next circle, draw straight or diagonal lines. 
  1. Repeat steps 1 and 2 in the remaining circles. Make them slightly different by drawing a center dot in the squares or the small circles.
  1. Don’t forget to make use of the negative space between the shapes that you draw. Add dots, or diamond shapes between them to give your mandala a more interesting look.

This mandala design of a shamrock is perfect for your St. Patrick’s Day crafts.  It’s a digital drawing of a mandala pattern that’s a little different from the typical circular design. 

Combine a basic circle with a few freehand drawn shapes to make it all come together.  Use these simple steps to also draw a pot of gold, a lucky charm, and a leprechaun.

Easy Doodle Mandala Art Ideas

Your drawings can also have practical uses. Think about the everyday things that you use that could be upgraded with beautiful drawings.  

The bullet journal trend is a perfect example of this.

Instead of having blank white planner pages, bullet journaling encourages users to add a new design to each page. 

The designs can be either a simple doodle or a complex abstract design.

1. Bullet Journal Mandala

Check out the colorful mandala feather in the bullet journal below. The rainbow effect that you get by using different colors is gorgeous.

2. Rainbow Polka Dot Mandala

Speaking of rainbows, polka dot mandalas like the one below are eye-catching but you’ll be surprised how easy they are to make.

Recreate this painting as a drawing by swapping out the paint for color pencils.

3. Flower Mandala 

Here is one that combines flower petals and circular mandalas

4. Sun mandala

How cute is this nature scene in the middle of this sun! Draw the whole thing lightly in pencil and then go over the lines with a black marker. The next step is to color it in.

5. Christmas mandala drawing

With this combo, you can take your original mandala, cut out your drawing of Santa, grab a glue stick and paste the Santa cut-out on top of the mandala.

6. Nature Inspired

Once again, nature inspires many of these drawings. This butterfly and sunflower design is no exception. A fun way to draw the butterflies is to use stamps if you’re worried about not getting it right.

7. Make it on Procreate

Like I mentioned above, you can also use digital drawing materials to make your mandalas. Above, I showed you how to draw one in Inkscape, but here is one that uses the popular drawing software program, Procreate.

8. Musical Influences

If you’re a music lover, then you’ll love this guitar mandala drawing.

9. Practice Makes Perfect

Take one simple shape and make different types of mandalas by drawing a new design inside each shape. You can see how circles and petal shapes are used several times in the one below but you get a different end result each time.

10. Cartoon Inspired Designs

A vintage classic never goes out of style. 

This old-school design of everyone’s favorite mouse goes to show that this art form is for kids of any age. Even if it’s just the kid in us. 

Cricut infusible ink markers
circular mandala drawing on lined paper

Want to save this for later? Pin it to your favorite board on Pinterest! 

Feel free to pin this post to your drawing ideas board on Pinterest for later or to write a comment if you found it helpful.

Conclusion

As you can see, mandalas are a growing artform. Choose any mandala template from the list above to start practicing. 

And pretty soon, you’ll be able to easily create your own unique designs. 

More creative drawing ideas! 

If you loved this list of ideas, I hope you will try my easy printable mandala coloring pages.

mandala coloring page